Nashville Vice Mayor’s Election: Jim Shulman Announces Bid

NASHVILLE, TN — At-large Councilman Jim Shulman announced Tuesday he will run for vice mayor.

As the qualifying deadline approaches for the August 2 election, Shulman is the second candidate, following Sheri Wiener’s announcement Monday.

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Shulman is in his third year of his first term as an at-large councilmember after serving two terms as a councilmember for a Green Hills district.

“More than ever, we need an engaged Council that can come together to meet our challenges head on,” Shulman said. “As Vice Mayor, I will work to build consensus around addressing our budget challenges, improving public education and ensuring that everyone who wants to live in Nashville can afford to live in Nashville.”

Shulman’s announcement included endorsements from fellow at-large member Bob Mendes, who himself had considered a run for vice mayor; Tanaka Vercher, chair of the powerful budget committee; and West Nashville councilmember Mina Johnson.

The winner of the August 2 special election will fill out Mayor David Briley's term, which expires in August 2019.

The vice mayor's primary job is presiding over the council, which includes appointing committees. Because of the council's unusually large membership - with 40 members, Nashville has the country's third-largest city council - pushback against the mayor in the council, if it exists at all, is usually so diffuse so as not to make much difference, thus any check on Metro's by-design strong mayor comes, by and large, during the committee process when legislation is vetted.

Thus, though the mayor and vice mayor do not run together on a joint ticket, the success of the former can be influenced by decisions made by the latter; former Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors once described herself as then-Mayor Karl Dean's "point guard" on the council.

Photo via Metro Council Office